Coláiste Mhuire all set for All-Ireland semi-final
Saturday's All-Ireland college’s football semi-final between Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar and St Colman’s, Claremorris will be broadcast live on the TG4 GAA youtube page.
Pádraig Pearses GAA Club, Roscommon will host the eagerly awaited semi-final at and the venue is located close to Ballinasloe.
Colásite Mhuire will be looking for a repeat of the performance which won them the Br Bosco Cup for the first time in 42 years on February 8. Their 3-10 to 1-13 victory came after an extra-time thriller and after some memorable celebrations, the focus has quickly turned to the Hogan Cup semi-final this weekend.
The Mullingar side, managed by Dean McNicholas, Brian Murtagh and Matthew Kearney, will face a tough proposition in the Mayo side, St Colman’s. They have four Mayo minor players in their ranks and marksman Darragh Beirne is one of their leading lights in attack. Beirne, playing at full-forward, bagged 1-5 and was a constant threat as St Colman's won the Connacht decider against Sligo’s Summerhill College by three points, 2-9 to 1-9, to regain a title last won in 2019.
Another player of note is full-back Rio Mortimer while corner-forward Ciaran Treacy also scored a goal in their Connacht final win. However, Coláiste Mhuire have their own ace in Will Scahill, scorer of 2-6 in the recent Leinster final. They are very well-balanced and that may be crucial again, so big contributions from players such as Eoin Conlon, Matthew Thornton and Seán Byrne will be vital, while defensively the full-back line of Ben Sheerin, Ty Masterson and Conor Daly will need to be very tight and tenacious.
The prize for victory on Saturday is a place in the All-Ireland final on St Patrick’s Day in Croke Park and they don’t come much bigger than that. Throw-in time on Saturday at Padraig Pearse’s GAA grounds is 1pm.
Coláiste Mhuire scorers in the Br Bosco final: Will Scahill 2-6 (0-5 frees), Paul Keating 1-0, Seán Byrne 0-2, Matthew Thornton 0-1, Ben Sheerin 0-1.
The Coláiste Mhuire team that won the Br Bosco Cup: Adam Buckley; Ben Sheerin, Ty Masterson, Conor Daly; Darragh Smith, Michael Weir, Michael Moloney; Eoin Conlon, Donnacha Maguire; Conor Heffernan, Matthew Thornton, Oisín O'Hara; Will Scahill, Eoin Meehan, Seán Byrne. Subs used: Ben McNamee, Paul Keating, James Murtagh, Adam Glynn.
St Colman's scorers in the Connacht final: Darragh Beirne 1-5 (2f, 1 ‘mark’); Ciaran Treacy (1-0); Ronan Kelly 0-2 (2f); Sean O’Connell 0-1; Ben Sheridan 0-1.
The St Colman's College team that won the Aonghus Murphy Cup: Evan Campbell, Stefan Petkovic, Rio Mortimer, Nathan Gill, David Hurley, Mark Noonan, Dara Flanagan, Craig Cassidy, Ronan Kelly, Cathal Tierney, Jake Mullins, Dylan Burke, Seán O’Connell, Darragh Beirne, Ciaran Treacy. Subs used: Tom Hession, Ben Sheridan, Jack Comer.
For the many travelling supporters, please note that the venue is in Woodmount, Creagh, Ballinasloe, Co. Roscommon, H53 E398.
The match is available on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/z9kmpB1Q5ck?si=PcwoimAqTOhS4VV4